Smuggler found with boy in a suitcase at Dover jailed

The boy was discovered during checks at the Port of Dover

A Romanian man who tried to smuggle a teenager into the UK in a suitcase has been jailed at Canterbury Crown Court.

Andrei Iancu, 20, was stopped during vehicle checks at Dover port in May.

Border Force officers saw his car boot seemed to contain bags and packets of crisps, but they moved the bags to find an arm protruding from a suitcase and discovered a Vietnamese boy, aged 16.

Iancu admitted attempting to smuggle a person into the UK and was given 18 months in a young offender institution.

'Incredibly dangerous'

The court heard the boy was released from the partially-open case and taken to hospital by ambulance.

His condition was initially described as life-threatening, but later improved.

After the hearing, Det Insp Bill Thornton, from Kent Police, said: "It should go without saying that hiding someone in a suitcase for even a short amount of time is incredibly dangerous.

"On this occasion, the boy was also in the boot of a car during a cross-Channel journey, and is extremely fortunate to have survived his ordeal."

He said the prison term handed to Iancu, from Buzau, reflected his early guilty plea.

He added: "He can count himself lucky he does not have the boy's death on his hands because then he would be spending a much longer period behind bars."